Thank you Free Republic for allowing me to post and vent on this site for over ten years. I am a young, married conservative woman who is trying to raise her daughter to be a fine, upstanding lady, an educated woman and a worthy wife to a decent man. Despite the stupidity of my generation (I am on the cusp of GenX and GenY) there is hope. Many young people are more prolife than ever. And at last, many others are beginning to open their eyes to the lies of socialism. However recent events on this site like witnessing the...

In 2007, and with that same nauseating arrogance that has come to define him, then presidential candidate Barack Obama duplicitously quipped, “I am absolutely convinced that culture wars are just so ’90s. Their days are growing dark.” Dark, indeed. America’s soon-to-be cultural-Marxist-in-chief would then spend the greater part of a decade waging war against our nation’s Judeo-Christian culture and heritage at levels, and in ways, unseen in our storied history. Today, his anti-Christian crusade continues unabated. In fact, and with less than two years left to complete his baleful conspiracy, this neo-pagan extremist has begun to rapidly accelerate his unravelings....

When Cal Poly Sal Luis Obispo hosts its annual Open House this April, during which campus clubs typically greet and recruit prospective visiting students, one longtime mainstay at the university will be conspicuously absent: Cru. The Christian club will not be allowed to set up a table and pass out fliers, or meet and greet guests. It’s the same at Chico State, where Cru will not be allowed to showcase itself during the school’s annual fall recruitment drive. They’ve also been forbidden from hanging up posters in freshman dorms. Gone are the days when Christian student clubs at Cal Poly...

Anna Marie Cox posed a useful question when she compared her faith to President Obama’s, who has been roundly criticized by conservatives such as my friend Erick Erickson, who wrote that Barack Obama is not a Christian in any meaningful way. Cox asked “if Obama’s not Christian, what does that make me?” She announced her Christian faith to the world by writing “My understanding of Christianity is that it doesn’t require me to prove my faith to anyone on this plane of existence.” She’s right. You could stop reading here—if you are not a Christian, maybe that’s the limit of...

Who do I need to prove my faith to—and why should I try? ... I’m nervous to come out as a Christian because I worry I’m not good enough of one. I’m not scared that non-believers will make me feel an outcast. I’m scared that Christians will ... Here is why I believe I am a Christian: I believe I have a personal relationship with my Lord and Savior. I believe in the grace offered by the Resurrection. I believe that whatever spiritual rewards I may reap come directly from trying to live the example set by Christ. Whether or...

The annual â€śStatus of Global Christianityâ€ť survey published by the International Bulletin of Missionary Research is a cornucopia of numbers: some are encouraging; others are discouraging; many of them are important for grasping the nature of this particular moment in Christian history. This yearâ€™s survey works from a baseline of 1900 A.D., and makes projections out to 2050. Within that century and a half thereâ€™s some good news about the global human condition that ought to be kept in mind when remembering the bad news of the 20th century and the early 21st. For example: in 1900, 27.6 percent...

In Washington, D.C., the nation’s capital city, 75 percent of adults do not go to church at least once a week, according to the Gallup poll, while only 23 percent do. Another 2 percent told the polling firm they “don’t know” when asked how often they go to church. When ranked with the 50 states, D.C. was fifth from last in the percentage of its residents who attend church services at least once a week. …

A constant refrain when discussing issues of radical Islam is that the overwhelming majority of Muslims are not radicalized. I agree completely. The vast majority of Muslim men and women are people who just want to live their lives, bring up their families and make the most out of the short time they have available to them. Almost all Western intelligence agencies are unanimous in their estimates that anywhere between 15-25 percent of Muslims worldwide are radicalized. That means there are between 180-300 million radicalized Muslim men and women in the world today. It is quite right to point out...

If you want to realize that we have truly been the classic boiling frogs the last few decades, take a moment to look at this video from 1987. It's a simple video of a high school band from Cleburne Texas that won the state competition that year. Look at it, and imagine if this bunch of high school kids performed this today, after the socialist cultural revolution. If you are in a hurry and don't feel like watching the whole 10 minute show, skip ahead to the 2:20, 4:40, 6:10, and 7 minute marks. See if you can find the...

Quietly on Christmas Eve, the Obama administration changed the rules on handling refugee children who enter the country without their parents and report being victims of sexual assault. All refugee aid groups, including Catholic and other Christian groups, will now be required to refer those girls to facilities that provide abortions. Religious groups that work with refugees are concerned that the new rules may require them to give up federal funding. Dr. Susan Yoshihara of the New York and Washington DC-based Center for Family & Human Rights (C-Fam) first reported the change last week: “Faith-based groups say this is a...

Editor's note: This piece was co-authored by the author's daughter, Kristin Carey. If you showed up at an Ash Wednesday service last week, chances are you heard the word Â“repentanceÂ” quite a few times. It isnÂ’t a term we often use outside of a church context. ItÂ’s one of those scary-sounding Â“ChristianeseÂ” words that few of us feel comfortable with, probably because it conjures up images of crazy old men standing on street corners, holding picket-signs and yelling at people as they pass by. Look it up in the dictionary, and youÂ’ll find explanations like Â“to feel sorry,Â” Â“conscience-stricken,Â” and...

Kurdish fighters in the Syrian town of Hassakeh have been involved in fierce fighting with Isil jihadists including Chechens. A Christian militia formed to protect the community as Syria falls apart is fighting its first major battle against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil), attacking across a front in the north-east of the country before being driven back again in a fierce counter-blow. Christian groups said they were checking a report that up to 200 civilians had been kidnapped by Isil jihadists in the fighting and were being held as hostages. A number of fighters from the militia,...

Bigotry is borne of ignorance and the nasty snark the Political Wire’s Taegan Goddard launched at Scott Walker’s Christian faith Tuesday is a perfect example of a secular leftist who finds everyday Christianity freakish. Sadly, it is also the result of a media environment where bigoted attacks on the faith against conservatives are becoming more and more acceptable.

What difference does it make now? [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8INIH0JfNA8] Video linkHe is not up for reelection and won't be impeached regardless of whatever He is or loves. If impeached, He wouldn't be convicted. On the other hand, such questions and their responses provide useful distractions from what He and His acolytes are doing to America.According to Dana Milbank at Organizing for Action the Washington Post, knowing that Obama is a Christian and loves "His" country should be a no-brainer. This is not a matter of conjecture. The correct answer is yes: Obama is Christian, and he frequently speaks about it in public. Balz and Costa presented Walker with this...

Political Wire publisher Taegan Goddard got a lot of flack on Twitter after mocking Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker for claiming he could discern God’s will, only to admit that he had no idea Christians believed they could communicate with God through prayer. It all began with a rather snarky tweet about Walker’s comments that he was still waiting for “God’s calling” before he announced a presidential run. [snip] As Goddard received criticism from religious followers, he shot back at critics by claiming that he wasn’t showing disdain for people of faith, even as his tone became more and more sarcastic....

A Virginia Tech student has announced that he will be petitioning the college to change the historic War Memorial Chapel into a Mosque because of perceived “oppression” of Muslims. Posting on Facebook, the student outlined his plans on the Virginia Tech class of 2018 page. Screenshots were taken by a member of the group and the students’ names have been hidden to keep them anonymous. The student believes that converting the Church into a Mosque will “play an essential role in improving the campus:” Explaining why he believes this to be true, the student explained, "having a chapel in the...

(CNSNews.com) – The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) is advancing federal regulations that require federally funded organizations caring for illegal alien minors who are in the United States without their parents (Unaccompanied Children or UC) and who may have been sexually abused access to “emergency contraception” services. “Emergency contraception” includes abortion-inducing drugs. These care providers currently include Catholic and other faith-based organizations that oppose abortion, according to the Center for Family and Human Rights or C-FAM, a Catholic advocacy group. The Interim Final Rule was published in the Federal Register on Dec. 24,...

Hindus Ask Pope Francis To Punish Priest Who Said Yoga Leads To Satanism, 'Kingdom Of Darkness' By Bruce Wright @bctw on February 23 2015 The pope has been asked by some Hindus to discipline a Catholic priest who equated yoga and the devil. Reuters/Max Rossi A group of Hindus is appealing to Pope Francis to intervene after a Catholic priest from Northern Ireland insinuated that the ancient discipline of yoga is tantamount to Satanism and paganism. Rev. Roland Colhoun from Glendermott parish was delivering a sermon in the village of Drumsurn on Feb. 8 dealing with the devil and exorcism...

Whether President Barack Obama is truly a Christian has been a hot topic for debate recently, especially after the mainstream media attempted to trip up pro-life Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker on the question. The question of whether anyone is truly a Christian person has more to do with faith than anything else. Does the person in question truly have an authentic relationship with Jesus Christ and acknowledged the fact that he died on the cross to save humanity from our sins and bridge the gap sin caused between ourselves and God. While that question has more to do with worldview...

It has been called the most contested plot of land in the world — the fissure at which three major faiths come together, and break apart. There have been holy wars fought over it and holy writ foretelling of battles yet to come. It’s Jerusalem’s Temple Mount. But what if history got it wrong? What if the spot where Solomon built the first Jewish Temple, and Herod built the second, was actually about 600 feet to the south, in a place known as the ancient City of David? Enter Robert Cornuke. He travels the world solving Bible mysteries: Noah’s Ark,...

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson has offered florist Barronelle Stutzman a deal: She can cater to same-sex weddings or she can stop doing weddings altogether. Of course, there’s always a third option: She can go out of business. Ms. Stutzman, the 70-year-old owner of Arlene’s Flowers in Richland, Washington, is opting for none of the above. “Your offer reveals that you don’t really understand me or what this conflict is all about,” Ms. Stutzman said in a letter to Mr. Ferguson. “It’s about freedom, not money. I certainly don’t relish the idea of losing my business, my home, and everything...

I am often asked how I can believe in God when there have been so many wars caused by religion. The implication is that if only people would leave behind their convictions about the existence of a God the world would be a much better, more peaceful place. Of course very few people ever reflect on the fact that the very reverse of this was demonstrated in the 20th century, which saw the atheistic communist and Nazi ideologies rise. In fact, that century saw more killing than the previous 19 put together.None of this is to say that religion...

President Barack Obama surprised many at the National Prayer Breakfast when he lectured us, "Lest we get on our high horse and think this (barbarity) is unique to some other place, remember that during the Crusades and the Inquisition, people committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ." Obama went on to explain, "In our home country, slavery and Jim Crow all too often (were) justified in the name of Christ." In Obama's mind, Western outrage at Islamic barbarism should be tempered by the remembrance of what Christians did a thousand years ago in the name of Christ. Plus, that...

Not that long ago, most Americans didnâ€™t know much or care to know much about Islam. It was just one more exotic but irrelevant religion that missionaries and National Geographic occassionally talked about. One scholar noted,Â â€śLess than a year before September 11, 2001, the consensus of expert opinion was . . . that [Islamâ€™s] impact had ended long before the Renaissance.â€ťÂ It took a massive terrorist attack on U.S. soil to abruptly bring Islam squarely into the center of the American consciousness.Since that day, questions about violence and Islam have lingered in the American mind: do these violent terrorists truly represent...

Liberals are very fond of trying to conflate the teachings of the Bible with those of the Quran. It is an attempt to destroy the foundations of our liberty by indicting Christianity with the atrocities of Islam. For liberals, violence is only religious if it impunes Christians. The Bible is a threat to liberal, leftist dogma because it is truth that diametrically opposes the humanist statism that is the utopia of the American left. Atrocities committed by Islamists are met with only nervous smiles or with blathering inanities about jobs for ISIS because Islam is not an American institution to...

Man, don’t you love how Obama and his soft-brain disciples have made Christians out to be fish-stickered, bug-eyed equals to incensed Islam? If you were to accept what the White House says about Christians you’d think the Church is chomping at the bit to chop off some heads of unbelievers. Yep, if you were to believe the barf belched out by the BS brokers on the ludicrous Left, you’d stagger away stupid with the belief that there is little disparity between caring Christians and militant Muslims. As a matter of fact, you probably would be bamboozled into believing that Islam...

"Saving Christmas," in which Kirk Cameron tries to convince his brother-in-law about the Christian meaning of the holiday, will win four of its six nominations: Worst Picture, Worst Actor (Cameron), Worst Screenplay, and Worst Screen Combo (Cameron and his ego). But "Transformers" is expected to win twice: Worst Director (Michael Bay) and Worst Remake, Ripoff or Sequel. That would bring the franchise to a total of five Razzies, after the three awards won by "Revenge of the Fallen" in 2009, including Worst Picture. Former "Transformers" star Megan Fox, who previously earned a Worst Actress bid for "Revenge of the Fallen,"...

A Washington grandmother and florist of 40 years who refused to service gay weddings because of her faith will now be forced to arrange flowers for gay ceremonies, a judge ruled Wednesday. On top of that, the woman, Barronelle Stutzman, will have to pay the legal penalties imposed by the judge as well as attorney’s fees. Benton County Superior Court Judge Alex Ekstrom ruled in a summary judgement that Stutzman violated anti-discrimination and consumer protection laws. Ekstrom ruled that the gay couple could collect penalties not just from her business, but also from her personally, according to Alliance Defending Freedom,...

In the midst of the typical theatrics surrounding the 2015 Grammys, few may remember that Christian rapper Lecrae Moore was nominated in the category of Best Rap Performance (for All I Need is You) alongside mainstream industry heavyweights like Kendrick Lamar and Eminem. Although Lamar won, Moore’s nomination was a milestone in the development of Contemporary Christian Music (CCM), which has undoubtedly come a long way since the 1960’s folk tunes of the Jesus Movement. The explosion in talent, variety and production quality in CCM raises the possibility of similar success with other art forms. Might we see a Christian...

Star Parker believes that black leadership is to blame for the struggles of the African-American community... Parker compared black leadership to “plantation overseers,” and said its job is to keep thriving African-Americans down and make them complacent in a welfare culture. “The Democratic machine has built up this plantation,” Parker said. “Then, they gerrymander the plantation in order to keep getting re-elected. When an African-American tries to stand up and challenges this system, they are quickly silenced, and treated like an escaped slave.”.. Just like a slave, they are dragged back to the farm and stripped of their integrity. We...

LIRA, Uganda (Reuters) - Sophia Apio dared not utter a sound as Ugandan rebels sliced off her lips and ears with a razor blade. They had threatened to hack her to death with machetes if she cried. Apio, her husband Ojede and six others were captured by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) while scavenging for food in northern Uganda, where a 17-year-old war has forced about 1.5 million people to flee their homes. Shadowy LRA rebels led by Joseph Kony, a former altar boy turned self-proclaimed mystic, typically target civilians in their brutal war against the government. snip "Then he...

This is Ash Wednesday, marking the first day of Lent. It’s a holiday that’s typically approached and celebrated—if it’s celebrated at all—with a somber air because those who observe it do so to start a season of making sacrifices. It’s easy to see why forty days of fasting would garner less attention and popularity than holidays that involve gifts. But the whole purpose of Lent, which we often forget, is to prepare Christians spiritually for the joy of Easter. And the entire Christian faith rests upon the Easter story; that Jesus conquered death. This miracle of Easter is the source...

Joe Scarborough says he doesn't want to be "torn to shreds online" for analogizing the threat of radical Christianity to that of radical Islam. In that case, the solution is simple: Scarborough should stop analogizing the threat of radical Christianity to that of radical Islam. On today's Morning Joe, Scarborough twice suggested such parallels, analogizing radical Islamists to "ultrafundamentalist Christians who believe every single word of the Bible has to be interpreted in the exact ways which could also lead to some violence." A bit later, Scarborough circled back, saying "it doesn't matter what faith you're in," that a literal...

The first prophecy about the Second Coming of Jesus was given in the Garden of Eden when God placed a curse on Eve. God said, “In sorrow thou shalt bring forth children” (Gen. 3:16 KJV). The modern language reads, “You will suffer birth-pangs.” The RSV reads, “In pain you shall bring forth children.” Children are a blessing that God bestowed upon Adam and Eve when He created them. But they sinned. And because they sinned the birth of children is a time of sorrows and birth pains. When the disciples asked Jesus about the signs of His coming, He mentioned...

(CNSNews.com) – An administrative law judge in Oregon has ruled against Melissa Klein’s effort to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a lesbian couple after Klein declined to make their wedding cake because of her biblical belief that marriage is the sacred union of one man and one woman. A hearing in March will now determine what fines will be levied against Klein for “damages” suffered by the lesbians. Attorneys for Klein, owner with her husband Aaron Klein of Sweet Cakes by Melissa in Gresham, Ore., had sought to have the case dismissed and to be awarded $200,000 in legal...

Saint Michael, the archangel of battle, is tattooed across the back of a U.S. army veteran who recently returned to Iraq and joined a Christian militia fighting Islamic State in what he sees as a biblical war between good and evil. Brett, 28, carries the same thumb-worn pocket Bible he did whilst deployed to Iraq in 2006 - a picture of the Virgin Mary tucked inside its pages and his favourite verses highlighted. "It's very different," he said, asked how the experiences compared. "Here I'm fighting for a people and for a faith, and the enemy is much bigger and...

Dawkins: Islam is ‘one of the great evils in the world’ February 9, 2011Acharya S/D.M. Murdock470 Comments Richard Dawkins (Photo: Cstreet/Christopher G. Street, Bransgore, Dorset, England, UK)Richard Dawkins says it outright. One wonders why so few other atheists are speaking out in the same way. Note that he does not hasten to qualify his comment by saying, “Islamic extremism” or “radical Islam.” Dawkins: “I’m reasonably optimistic in America and Europe. I’m pessimistic about the Islamic world. I regard Islam as one of the great evils in the world, and I fear that we have a very difficult struggle there.” Narrator:...

Moby Dick is full of allusions to the Bible. A major theme in the Bible is salvation and (in the New Testament) new birth. This essay will summarize what the Bible says on the subject and then show ways in which this applies to Moby Dick. Moby Dick depends a lot on the Old Testament. Job and Jonah, Ahab and Noah stalk its pages. (Originally I had thought of doing a paper contrasting Melville's Ahab with Job, but I was overwhelmed at the magnitude of references and allusions--anyone willing to stake me for a two-year sabbatical?). Moby Dick does also...

A couple of years ago, a former archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey, warned Christians that the faith is in danger. Here is the article: http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/Christianity-Anglican-Extinct-Carey/2013/11/25/id/538425/ According to the article, only 800,000 people are church-goers in Britain. Britain had a total population of 64 million in 2013. This means that only 1.25 percent of the British population are church-going Christians. The future of America seems to be going in Britain's direction. I wanted to add an update to Lord Carey's observations. A lot of people think the Third World is the future of Christianity. But Brazil, the largest Latin American country,...

Barack Obama has one final year to realize that the National Prayer Breakfast just isn’t a good venue for him. Obama’s track record at the annual function has been little other than disastrous, and another president—one with a more hostile media and a less dedicated constituency—would have been ruined already by previous catastrophes.Obama’s problems with the National Prayer Breakfast began in earnest in 2012, when the keynote speech at the affair was given by author Eric Metaxas. The speech Metaxas gave in advance of Obama’s own address was a tour de force and an indictment, though a polite one, of...

President Obama, during his National Prayer Breakfast speech, Thursday: "No god condones terror. No grievance justifies the taking of innocent lives or the oppression of those who are weaker of fewer in number." All people at all times and locations have the right to defend themselves from terror. Despite Obama's words that have clearly angered people, we can see the following as an example: Christians within the confines of the Byzantine Empire had a right to defend themselves from Muslims who terrorized them, but we all know that Pope Urban II could in no way possible know that anyone who...

This week, President Obama spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast, where he proceeded to inform an audience of Christians that they ought not judge radical Muslims currently engaged in beheading journalists, defenestrating gays, crucifying children, and engaging in mass rape of women. Why, pray tell, should Christians remain silent? Because, Obama informed them with Ivy League pride, "Unless we get on our high horse and think that this is unique to some other place, remember that during the Crusades and Inquisition, people committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ. In our home country, slavery and Jim Crow all too...

There is no “right to food”. Food never was any sort of fundamental “right”. Saint Paul already warned us that to those who do not want to work, we shall give no food. You can’t find any clearer evidence that food is not a fundamental right of the person. Of course, charity demands that we feed the hungry. But this is not a subjective right of the hungry, merely the result of the charitable help of those who feed them because – let us say this once again – consider them, in their charity, worthy of being fed. Charity is...

"A steady patriot of the world alone, "The friend of every country -- but his own." George Canning's couplet about the Englishmen who professed love for all the world except their own native land comes to mind on reading Obama's remarks at the National Prayer Breakfast. After listing the horrors of ISIS, al-Qaida and Boko Haram, the president decided his recital of crimes committed in the name of Islam would be unbalanced, if he did not backhand those smug Christians sitting right in front of him. "And lest we get on our high horse ... remember that during the Crusades...

Frank Turek's new book is a brilliant and unique contribution to Christian apologetics. "Stealing From God: Why Atheists Need God to Make Their Case" is thoughtful and provocative yet a very quick read. I have read many books on Christian apologetics but nothing quite like this book. Not only is much of the content different from that of other books on the subject but so is the approach.By definition, Christian apologetics deals with defending the faith and, in the process, marshaling evidence in support of Christianity's truth claims. "Stealing From God" does that, of course, but it does something else,...

President Obama took to the podium of the National Prayer Breakfast to criticize the â€śterrible deedsâ€ť . . . committed â€śin the name of Christâ€ť throughout the pass two thousand years or so. "And lest we get on our high horse and think this is unique to some other place, remember that during the Crusades and the Inquisition, people committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ," he said. "In our home country, slavery and Jim Crow all too often was justified in the name of Christ." While the president is right that slavery supporters often sought out validation in...

"Let me start with the Civil War — I mean this is a president who — we can excuse him for his ignorance of Islamic theology and Islamic history, you know despite his nominal background in Islam as a child. But excuse me, but the abolitionists were Christians, and the United States literally went to war with itself, unlike any other society before, to extirpate the longstanding, thousand year longstanding evil of slavery in virtually every human civilization. It’s just appalling that he doesn’t even grasp that fundamental decency about this country..."

The Crusades were not brutal wars of colonial oppression or zealous attempts to spread Christianity by the sword. The First Crusade was called in 1095 by Pope Urban II in response to desperate appeals from the Christians of the Middle East, who had lately been conquered and continued to be persecuted by the Turks. And these were only the latest in more than four centuries of attacks on Christian peoples by Muslim powers. At some point Christianity as a faith and as a culture had to defend itself or else be subsumed by Islam. The work of the Crusader, who...

People who wonder why the president does not talk more about race would do well to examine the recent blow-up over his speech at the National Prayer Breakfast. Inveighing against the barbarism of ISIS, the president pointed out that it would be foolish to blame Islam, at large, for its atrocities. To make this point he noted that using religion to brutalize other people is neither a Muslim invention nor, in America, a foreign one: Lest we get on our high horse and think this is unique to some other place, remember that during the Crusades and the Inquisition,...

resident Obama has hijacked Christianity in an attempt to defend Islam. At the National Prayer breakfast Thursday, he said, Â“There is a tendency in us, a sinful tendency, that can pervert and distort our faith.Â” And that there will always be people willing to Â“hijack religion for their own murderous ends.Â” So we shouldnÂ’t Â“get on our high horse and think this is unique to some other placeâ€”remember that during the Crusades and the Inquisition, people committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ.Â” Yes, people have done terrible deeds in the name of Christ, but they were against the...